Besides being a great way unit study starter, movies have a way of taking us back in history. Remember, when we did our FBI Unit Study, we started our unit study by popping popcorn and watching the documentary about the FBI.
Not only do movies capture our children’s attention but they have a way of hooking our children on history too.
Homeschool History Alive
Netflix is one tool I happily pay for each month because the benefits always outweigh the nominal cost.
Though the movies change throughout the years, I always manage to keep a list or two on hand when teaching different periods of history.
Look at my list of homeschool history teaching ancient civilizations using Netflix.
- Son of Hercules vs. Medusa
- The Ancient Life
- The 300 Spartans
- Colosseum: A Gladiator’s Story
- Cleopatra
- The Prince of Egypt
- Nova: Building Pharaoh’s Chariot
- The Pyramid Code
- The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb
- Secrets: The Sphinx
- Alexandria
- Secrets: A Viking Map?
- Secrets of the Viking Sword: Nova
- Secrets of the Dead: China’s Terracotta Warriors
Whether you add a movie or two for enrichment, as a unit study starter or to add some spice to your day, a movie or two can history alive for a time period in history that sometimes can be hard to teach.
Teaching Ancient Civilizations Using Netflix
I also scour the History Channel and PBS/Nova for movies to go with a specific time period.
Also, be sure to scoot by and check out Teach With Movies for free lesson plans to go with movies. It is such an awesome resource.
Although I don’t use movies to teach exclusively, I feel they are a fun and valuable part of teaching history that can be inspirational.
What about you? Do you add movies to your unit studies or to enrich your curriculum?
Also you’ll love these other resources:
- Free and Useful Editable Movie Report For Homeschool
- 54+ Fun Books Turned Movies to Spark a Love For Reading
- 10 Fun Amazon Prime Movies for the Youngest Homeschoolers
- 7 Educational Movies for Kids About Westward Expansion
- Amazing Hands-on History Activities for 14 Ancient Empires (free notebook cover too)
- Hands-on History Activities for Learning about Ancient Civilizations
- Ancient Civilizations I
- 15 Hands-on History Ideas for Middle School Kids Studying the French and Indian War
- Free 27 Week American History Study through Lapbooking In Chronological Order
- Easy Hands on Homeschooling Ideas When You’re Not the Bomb Mom
Hugs and love ya,
We have been watching BBC’s Egypt miniseries on Netflix and it is excellent!
Have you seen Curiositystream.com? It’s like netflix, but all documentaries, a lot from the BBC, We’ve watched a lot of really great ones. Also, on youtube, the History of the World in 2 hours is great (definitely not a creationist viewpoint though, and it covers a lot of the big bang and evolution)
Yes, we love it. Thanks for sharing!!
I love using Netflix to supplement history and science. My kids seem to retain more knowledge from documentaries than they do from reading. Thank you!
Denise recently posted…How to Make an Erupting Volcano
Mine too Denise. They retain a good amount of information.
You are so welcome and glad to have you here!!